


Stay for just one more drink?

by MouseBouse



Series: Shadowhunters Season 1 Codas [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Coda, M/M, Post 1x06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 05:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6106372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MouseBouse/pseuds/MouseBouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec spends the night at Magnus's place after helping him treat Luke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay for just one more drink?

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to talk to me on [Tumblr](http://mousebouse.tumblr.com).

'Just one more drink’ turned out to be three more for Alec (although he’d switched to non-alcoholic after that first one) and five, no, _six_ for Magnus. Alec assumed that living for hundreds of years caused Magnus’s body to build up quite the tolerance for alcohol. That was the only explanation as to why he seemed no more affected by it now than Alec was.  


They were on the couch now, which Alec had started cleaning earlier and Magnus finished with a snap of his fingers because “Yes, my magic is low, but I can, in fact, clean up a little blood, Alexander.”  


He’d sent a quick text to Izzy after agreeing to stay, asking her to cover for him if their mother asked why he wasn’t home yet. She’d replied with a simple **I expect details.**  


Magnus had been telling him about his life, and about some of the Lightwoods he’d known over the years. The more they talked, the easier it was for Alec. He was becoming less and less of that stuttering mess he’d been at first. He was comfortable around Magnus, something he never thought he’d be able to say about a warlock. Or any Downworlder, to be honest.  


“So, will you tell me?” Magnus asked after returning from checking on Luke.  


“Tell you what?”  


“What it was that Maryse wanted earlier. You didn’t seem particularly willing to help her.”  


Alec looked away for a second and sighed. Magnus continued, “I understand if you can’t tell me. The Clave do love their secrets.”  


“No, I--- My parents. They…” Alec took a deep breath. “They want me to marry. To restore our family’s honor or something.”  


Magnus’s real eyes showed for a brief moment before returning to human. “You don’t want that, I suppose?”  


“To marry someone I don’t know? No.”  


“To marry a woman, I meant.”  


Alec slowly turned to look at him before shaking his head and huffing out a humorless laugh. “I don’t exactly have a choice.”  


“I’m assuming your family don’t know you’re gay?”  


Alec flinched a bit at Magnus’s free use of that word. He’d only been able to say it once, years ago, when he told Isabelle, and even then, it had been nothing more than a whisper. “My sister does. No one else. It wouldn’t end well. Shadowhunters are quite… traditional.”  


“Not exactly the word I’d use,” Magnus said, “but yes, I do remember a Shadowhunter who was, quite unfortunately for him, as it turned out, in love with his _parabatai_.” He noticed Alec staring at him like a deer in the headlights and added, “I wasn’t talking about you and the Wayland boy.”  


“I’m not-- I mean, we--" Alec started, and then gave up. “Listen, Magnus, if you want me to leave…”  


He started to get up when a hand on his forearm stopped him. “I knew you had feelings for Jace before I invited you here, Alexander. The question is, do you _want_ to leave?” Magnus slowly removed his hand, giving him the chance to go if he chose to.  


Alec looked down at the Soundless rune that had been covered by the warlock’s hand just a second ago. “No,” he said finally. “I want to stay.”

 

Hours passed by in conversation, and suddenly, Alec could see the first glimpses of the morning light coming through the windows of the loft, sorry, _lair_. Magnus insisted on calling it a lair. Apparently, that made it sound much more warlock-y than ‘my giant apartment in the middle of New York City’.  


The warlock had actually fallen asleep a while ago, so Alec moved to the nearby chair to give him the entire couch. Now Magnus stirred and opened his eyes.  


“Good morning, Alexander.” He then noticed the blanket that Alec had covered him with and smiled, “Taking care of me? How gentleman-y of you.”  


Alec smiled back. “Like I said, you had a tough day yesterday.”  


This was nice, Alec thought. He hadn’t smiled so much in a long time. Or laughed, for that matter. His stomach still hurt from hearing about the full scope of Magnus’s monkey incident in Peru. It had been a fun night.  


Still, he said, “I should go.”  


“People usually sneak out _before_ their one night stand wakes up, you know,” Magnus said, smirking.  


Filled with courage that came from the Angel knows where, Alec blurted out, “Maybe I don’t want it to be a one-time thing.”  


Then he looked at Magnus’s eyes which were back to those of a cat.  


And just like that the courage was gone and Alec was back to his stammering self, “I-- I mean---” He stopped to take a deep breath. “W-Would you like to go on a date? With me? This weekend?“


End file.
